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Abstract: This article presents the discovery and analysis of Pietro Andrea Mattioli’s annotated copy of the 1544 Discorsi on Dioscorides’ De materia medica, preserved at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. The marginalia reveal Mattioli’s working methods during the preparation of the expanded Valgrisi edition of 1548 and document the substantial transformation of the text from a medical textbook into a natural historical encyclopaedia. The annotations include additions, deletions, corrections, new quotations, and critical remarks directed at contemporary authors such as Leonhart Fuchs and Antonio Musa Brasavola. They also show how Mattioli expanded the original scope of the work by integrating personal observations and practical information on simples and their uses. The discovery provides rare evidence of the editorial process behind one of the most influential Renaissance medical commentaries and illustrates how a philological enterprise developed into a pedagogical and natural historical project.
Keywords: Pietro Andrea Mattioli, Dioscorides, marginalia, Reneissance botany, materia medica, medical history
Published in DiRROS: 04.05.2026; Views: 90; Downloads: 66
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Abstract: This article o'ers a conceptual history of the inflationary term “technocracy” throughout the 20th century, showing that its rise in usage stemmed largely from its capacity to articulate fundamental critiques of the perceived excesses of progress. Whether referring to anxieties about “technization” or to statist ambitions in terms of economic policymaking, denunciations of technocracy linked to ideas of progress were numerous and evolved over the century, depending on who employed the concept – and, crucially, when. Drawing on examples from the United States, Germany, and Italy, the article demonstrates how the conceptual history of technocracy reflects the ongoing fluctuation of Western imaginaries of progress and discourses of modernity.
Keywords: technocracy, conceptual history, narratives of progress, modernity
Published in DiRROS: 11.03.2026; Views: 262; Downloads: 197
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Abstract: This article shows how post-Enlightenment philosophies of history were aesthetically embodied in certain events, institutions, and individuals that disseminated the linear and imperialist temporality of progress. As a case study, the article examines the 1876–1877 journey abroad of Dom Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil, in the context of civilizational comparisons. The emperor’s practice of visiting institutions that materialized and displayed progress (museums, universities, factories, etc.) attracted the attention of the international press, which contributed to the fashioning and dissemination of that image. Moreover, his personal aversion to pompous ceremonies led to the adoption of novel political rituals that took place within progressive institutions and events, such as the International Exhibition in Philadelphia and the Caxton Celebration in London. Fashioned as “ceremonies of civilization,” these events – like the progressive emperor of a country socially and economically based on slave labor – reveal temporal ambivalences in the “age of comparisons.”
Keywords: progress, history of monarchies, civilization, political aesthetics
Published in DiRROS: 10.03.2026; Views: 219; Downloads: 153
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Abstract: The European yew (Taxus baccata L.) is a long-lived conifer of ecological, cultural, and historical importance across Eurasia. Despite its remarkable resilience, wide distribution, and symbolic importance, the species has experienced a long-term decline due to a complex interplay of climatic fluctuations, megafaunal extinctions, human exploitation, and insufficient regeneration. Recent studies in palaeoecology, archaeology, dendroecology, and conservation have revealed a species with greater ecological plasticity and a broader historical distribution than previously assumed. However, many fundamental questions remain unresolved, particularly regarding its biogeographical history, population dynamics, recruitment processes, and the drivers of its decline. This review stems from prior investigations of yew in the French Pyrenees and, more broadly, across Europe. These efforts led to a transdisciplinary seminar and opened a collaboration uniting >30 researchers across Eurasia. By synthesizing a wide array of data and perspectives, the article highlights key knowledge gaps and outlines emerging research priorities. These are organized thematically—past, present, and future—and include 25 questions on the species' ecological niche, life-history strategies, human interactions, genetic resilience, and conservation under global change. The article advocates for a shift towards integrative and long-term conservation strategies that embrace the historical legacies of yew populations, the general ecology of the species along with local ecological context dependence, and the urgency of future threats. By identifying pressing research needs, this review seeks to lay the foundation for new collaborative initiatives and to support evidence-based conservation of this emblematic yet understudied species.
Keywords: Taxus baccata L., conservation, long-term history, current dynamics, ecological resilience, restoration ecology, priority research questions
Published in DiRROS: 27.02.2026; Views: 336; Downloads: 205
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Abstract: Women's emancipation was a centuries-long process that took different forms across regions. In the Habsburg monarchy, as elsewhere in Europe, noble titles signified elite status and service to the state. Titles were typically conferred on men, reflecting their legal and social dominance. However, hereditary nobility meant that women often shared in the privileges of their husbands or fathers. Direct ennoblement of women was rare and usually tied to marriage with Habsburg princes. Yet in the 19th century, a few Austrian women were ennobled for their own achievements. These women were exceptions, not the rule, within a male-dominated honor system. Still, their recognition marked a shift in the monarchy’s view of women's public roles. The practice reflected changing ideas about merit, gender, and service to the dynasty. Though few in number, such cases signalled a broader transformation underway.
Keywords: gender, Austrian empire, ennoblement, history, "long 19th century"
Published in DiRROS: 09.02.2026; Views: 548; Downloads: 207
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